CBS is just gloating in its news release (below). Whereas NBC actually thinks it’s news that Conan originals won demos 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54, despite up against encore telecasts of “Late Show with David Letterman”. So I have to ask: is late night this fall gonna be a bloodbath?

For the second consecutive week, rebroadcasts of LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN delivered more viewers than originals of “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien,” and finished in its closest ever competitive position in adults 18-34, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings for the week ending Aug. 14.

Rebroadcasts of LATE SHOW delivered a 2.1/05 in households with an average of 2.95m viewers, up +11% in households (from 1.9/04) and +12% in viewers (from 2.64m) compared to the same week last year (also a week of rebroadcasts). LATE SHOW was up +13% in adults 25-54 (0.9/04 from 0.8/03), +25% in adults 18-34 (0.5/02 from 0.4/02) and even in adults 18-49 (0.7/03) compared to the same week last year.

LATE SHOW rebroadcasts beat first-run “The Tonight Show” in households (2.1/05 vs. 1.9/05, +11%) and viewers (2.95m vs. 2.67m, +10%). This week’s viewer advantage is 40 times greater than the prior week of rebroadcast (+7,000 viewers). LATE SHOW has now topped “The Tonight Show” in households and viewers for six consecutive weeks.

Even in rebroadcasts, LATE SHOW finished in its closest competitive position to “The Tonight Show” in adults 18-34 (0.5 vs. 0.8, -0.3) since Conan’s premiere as host on June 1.

For the fifth consecutive week, THE LATE LATE SHOW with CRAIG FERGUSON beat “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” in households (1.1/04 vs. 1.0/04, +10%) and viewers (1.46m vs. 1.36m, +7%). THE LATE LATE SHOW posted a 1.1/04 in households with 1.46m viewers, up +10% in households (from 1.0/03) and +14% in viewers (from 1.28m) compared to the same week last year. THE LATE LATE SHOW was even in adults 25-54 (0.5/03), adults 18-49 (0.4/03) and adults 18-34 (0.3/02) compared to the same week last year. Note: Due to PGA Highlights, Thursday’s and Friday’s broadcasts aired with amended titles and are not included in the weekly average.